BA ACTING (THREE-YEAR DEGREE)

UCAS code: W411 BA/Act

BA Acting is a thorough preparation for a career in acting. Its purpose is the development of each individual student’s talent, extending existing skills in voice and movement for professional life. The degree is validated by the University of Essex and accredited by the National Council for Drama Training, which allows graduates automatic entry into Equity, the actors’ union.

The first year provides an introduction to all parts of the East 15 experience. The curriculum consists of acting, voice, singing, movement and contextual studies. Students explore their own capacity for creativity. The work is focused on individual and collaborative development, fostered by the group’s shared experiences. Acting work will include objective self-assessment, development of observational skills and the imagination with exploration and re-creation through improvisation.  Alongside acting, students take supporting modules that will be vital to them in the full-scale productions which they will stage later in their course. The year culminates in a large scale living history project, in which students live the lives of others.

The second year will provide students with further opportunities to develop these skills. A number of contrasting projects equip actors to rise to the challenge of working on devised and scripted projects. Students will study nineteenth-century Naturalism, Commedia dell’Arte, Music Hall and Brecht. The overall student experience is focused on establishing a firm basis for the growing interrelationship of the ensemble.

The third year requires students to address the demands that they will meet in the professional theatre. Students undertake a wide variety of plays to extend their performance repertoire. The choice of plays is tailored to the needs of the individual year. All productions demand research, improved skills and commitment. By the end of the year, students will have attained the professionalism that will equip them for the highly competitive career of acting. Special ‘professionalisation’ workshops take place in the final year, through which students are introduced to various aspects of the professional world which awaits them. In this year the students are also given experience of working with radio, film and television.  A Showcase performance is presented in a major West End theatre for an invited audience of agents, casting directors and film, TV and theatre directors. Students are also introduced to new playwriting through a series of two-week projects involving up-and-coming directors and new playwrights, culminating in a new plays festival in central London for an invited audience of industry professionals. In 2006, this process involved new plays from The Bush, Hampstead Theatre and The Royal Court.

Please note: this degree is taught at the Loughton Campus.
 

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